Professor of Law and Judge Alexander P. Waugh, Sr. Scholar Emerita
Twila Perry
Rutgers Law School
422
S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice
123 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102
973-353-5927

Twila L. Perry, a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, writes in the area of family law, with a particular interest in the intersection of critical race theory and feminist legal theory and has published numerous articles on transracial and international adoption, the legal obligations of marriage, family law, no-fault divorce, and alimony.

  • Biography
  • Publications
  • Courses Taught
Biography

Professor Perry received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, her M.S.W. from the Columbia University School of Social Work, and her J.D. from New York University Law School, where she was a Root-Tilden Scholar and an editor of the Law Review. She served as law clerk to Judge Mary Johnson Lowe of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and was associated with the New York law firm of Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam and Roberts. Prior to joining the Rutgers faculty in the spring of 1984, Professor Perry was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. Professor Perry writes in the area of family law with a particular interest in the intersection of critical race theory and feminist legal theory. She has published articles on numerous subjects, including transracial and international adoption, the legal obligations of marriage, the Black family and family law, no-fault divorce, and alimony.

Publications

“Feminist Legal Theory and Critical Race Theory in Family Law: Conflict, Convergences and a Look Toward the Future,” in Transcending the Boundaries of Law, Martha Fineman, ed. (Routledge Press 2010)

Kirchberg v. Feenstra, 450 U.S. 455 (1981), Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States (Macmillan Reference U.S.A. —Thompson-Gale 2008)

A Gem in Harlem: The Garrison Apartments, Gentrification and the Dilemma of Race (forthcoming)

“Transracial Adoption and Gentrification,” 26 B.C. Third World L.J. 25 (2006)

“Discourse, Diversity and the Mission of the Feminist Law Journal,” 12 Columbia J. Gender & Law 466 (2003)

“The Essentials of Marriage: Reconsidering the Duty of Support and Services,” 15 Yale J.L. & Feminism 1-49 (2003)

“Power, Possibility and Choice: The Racial Identity of Transracially Adopted Children,” 9 Michigan J. of Race & Law 215-224 (2003)

Courses Taught
  • Children and the Law
  • CHILDREN&THE LAW SEM
  • Family Law (1)
  • FAMILY LAW
  • Race & Law Review
  • RACE & THE LAW REV.
  • TORTS